Smoking appliance



arch 27, 1934. M s, BANK 1,952,352

SMOKING APPLIANCE Filed Feb. 25. 1931 Arm/ m Patented Mar. 27, 19 34 UNITED STATES. PATENT OFFICE 1.952,:a SMOKING APPLIANCE Millard 5. Banks, BuiIalo, N. Y. Application February 25, 1931, Serial No. 518,130 3 Claims. (Cl. 131-10) This invention relates to smoking appliances of tubular form, such' as holders for cigars or cigarettes, or stems for pipes.

The objects of this invention are to provide a 5 tubular holder or stem for use in connection with the smoking of tobacco, and which holder or stem is adapted to receive a smoke filtering device, which preferably includes some substance which has the property of modifying the nature 1. of the smoke drawn through the holder or stem;

also to provide devices of this kind with means of improved construction, adapted to be readily inserted therein, and removed therefrom to modify the smoke passing from the holder or stem to the mouth of the smoker; also to improve the construction'of devices. of this kind in other respects hereinafter mentioned.

In the accompanying drawing: Fig. 1. is a side view, on an enlarged scale, of a .1 holder or stem embodying this invention;

Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal sectional elevation thereof, on a still larger scale; Fig. 3 is a transverse section thereof on line 3--3, Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section of a holder or stem of modified construction.

Briefly stated, my improved stem or holder includes a tubular member having an internal tapering passage arranged with the smaller end thereof nearest to the mouthpiece of the tubular member, and adapted to receive smoke at the larger end of the passage, the tapered passage containing a mass of material, preferably of fibrous form, through which the smoke passes, and also containing some solid substance capable of adding a vapor to the smoke passing through the stem or holder. This smoke modifying mass is pressed into the tapering passage, and is, consequently, wedged in place, so that it .3111] not become dislodged 'during the use ofssthe holder, and which may be presses tothe holder to various portions thereof 1 to compress the smoke modifying material to the desired extent.

A represents the stem or holder, which may be made of any suitable or desired material, being in the nature of a relatively thin-walled tube 0! paper or similar material in the construction shown. The holder may be provided with a mouthpiece B, which may be of cork\or'other substance. The particular holder shown is of inexpensive construction, and is intended to be discarded after it has been used anumber of times, but if desired, the holder may be made of a more permanent nature. The constructiongof the holder does not constitute a part of this invention, except that the holder should be provided with a tapered passage. The passage in the holder shown tapers toward the mouthpiece of the holder, and is adapted to receive a cigar or cigarette at the larger end thereof. It will be obvious that this holder may be in the form of a stem for a pipe or other smoking appliance, and in that case the tapered passage may be in the nature of a bore extending through the stem.

In accordance with my invention, I provide within the stem or holder some porous and yielding means for modifying the smoke passing through the holder or stem, the means being 7 preferably in such form that it may be passed into the larger end of the holder and held frictionally in place by the tapering walls, so that no special provision for securing such smoke modifying mass in the holder is' necessary. The use of 16 a compressible or yielding smoke modifying mass within a tapered passage within the holder also makes it possible to insert this mass into different positions lengthwise of the holder, so that the mass may be subjected to more or less compression, as desired. In the construction shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the smoke modifying mass includes suitable fibrous material C, such for example as cotton, wool, or any other desired fibrous substance. It is also desirable to embody in the fibrous mass some substance capable of giving on vapors which pass through the holder to the mouth of the smoker. It is possible to accomplish this by treating or impregnating the entire mass with a suitable substance, such as a liquid, but I have found that such treatment renders the fibrous material active for only a short time, and I, consequently, prefer to incorporate in the fibrous material some solid substance, preferably in finely dividedjorm, which is capable of giving oi! vapor. For example, menthol in crystal form may be used, but it is not my desire to limit 'this invention to the use of menthol crystals, since other substances may be used, if desired. In the accompanying drawing, D represents the crystals, which are preferably in finely divided form so as to expose considerable surface to the smoke. The crystals are incorporated in an intermediate portion of the fibrous mass 0, or if desired, the fibrous mass may be divided into two parts, one located at each side of the layer of solid matter D.

when -this arrangement is employed, the en.- tire fibrous mass with the crystals arranged therein can be easily manufactured and inserted 110 into the tapering passage. The portion of the fibrous mass C, through which the smoke first passes before reaching the crystals, serves the purpose of absorbing a certain amount of the gummy substance included in the tobacco smoke,

and thus delays for a considerable period the impairing of the action of the solid matter by coating of the crystals with the gummy substance. The portion of the fibrous material located between the crystals and the discharge end of the tapering passage serves to prevent any of these crystals from being drawn through the passage divided solid substance F is arranged next to this cloth or textile material. A mass of fibrous material G is then arranged between the solid substance F and the smoke receiving end of the passage in the holder or stem, and the cloth or textile material E extends to the sides of the fibrous mass G, so that the textile material and mass G will adhere to each other. If desired, a suitable adhesive or other means for securing these two materials together may be-emp1oyed, but in most instances, the textile material will adhere to the fibrous mass without the necessity of any other means for securing these two parts together. The smoke modifying means are then inserted into the tapering passage of the holder with the result that the mass G will act to eliminate some of the gummy substance from the smoke before it reaches the solid substance F, while the textile material E will prevent any of the substance from being drawn into the mouth of the smoker. When the mass shown in Fig. 4 is inserted into a holder the tapering of the passage will tend to press the textile material at the sides of the mass G into contact there- Lwith, and thus hold these parts in connected reation.

In the use of this invention as a cigarette holder, the tubes or holders A are preferably made of inexpensive material, and the smoke modifying substance is inserted into the same by the manufacturer. The solid substance will continue its action for a period of time, so that the holder may be used a number of times and then thrown away. It will be understood, however, that, if desired, the smoke modifying mass may be sold separately in the form of cartridges and inserted by the user into the stems or holders. In the use of the stem or holder, the drawing of smoke therethroughwill tend to wedge the smoke modifying substance more firmly in the tapering passage. When a substance, such as menthol, is used, the menthol vapors tend to cool the smoke and also have medicinal properties.

I claim as my invention:

l. A smoke-conducting tubular member having a tapering passage through which smoke may pass from the larger to the smaller end thereof, 1

pass from the larger to the smaller end thereof,

and a smoke modifying member arranged in said passage and including a layer of textile material having a finely-divided solid, volatile substance on one side thereof, and a mass of fibrous material placed against said side of said textile material for confining said solid substance between said fibrous material and said textile material, said textile material extending to the sides of said fibrous material, the taper of said passage acting to hold said textile material pressed against the sides of said fibrous material and wedging said smoke modifying member in said passage.

3. A cigarette holder comprising a tube having a tapering passage, the smaller end of said passage being near the mouth piece and the larger end being adapted to receive a cigarette, and smoke modifying means arranged in said passage and including a mass of fibrous material having finely divided menthol crystals arranged in the intermediate portion thereof, said fibrous material and said smoke modifying means being wedged in said tapering tube to hold the same in place and to hold the various parts thereof in correct relation to each other, the portion of the fibrous material between the larger end of said holder and the menthol crystals acting to remove some ingredients from the smoke to prevent coating of the crystals, and the portion of the fibrous material between the crystalsand the smaller end of the cigarette holder serving to prevent the crystals from being drawn into the mouth.

' WARD S. BANKS.

his 

